Davis County Holidays

James E. Smith, Commission Chair

Original term began: January, 2015 Current term ends: January 7, 2019

James E. (Jim) Smith was born and raised in Southern California. He moved to Utah with his young family in 1976. Commissioner Smith had a long career in banking, primarily in commercial lending, which gave him a solid background and understanding of business issues. Over the years, he was moved into administration and served as the president of local banks on 2 occasions.

In 2009, he decided to leave banking and began 5 years of service as President/CEO of the Davis Chamber of Commerce, which is the only chamber in the county and serves over 900 members. During his time at the Chamber, he worked closely with legislators, county officials and municipal leaders. This provided experience valuable to serving as a county commissioner. His particular priorities have been in job creation through economic development.

Commissioner Smith was encouraged to run for the County Commission seat because of his background in business, understanding of finances and the budgeting process, his past involvement in economic development and his passion for community service. He has worked in Legislative Affairs; worked closely with the military at Hill AFB; been involved in education and transportation issues, economic development and more; and has served on the Business Development Fund Committee for Davis County, as well as the Council of Governments.

Commissioner Smith has been married to the former Carolyn Church for 45 years. They have 5 children and 11 grandchildren – all of whom are above average. He and his wife live in Farmington.